Research: Too much, too little noise turns off consumers, creativity

May 14, 2012

Ambient background noise turns out to be an important factor affecting creative cognition among consumers, according to research from Ravi Mehta, a professor of business administration at Illinois. Credit: Photo courtesy University of Illinois College of Business.

The sound of silence isn't so golden for consumers, and both marketers and advertisers should take note, says new research from a University of Illinois expert in new product development and marketing.

According to published research from Ravi Mehta, a professor of business administration, ambient background noise turns out to be an important factor affecting creative cognition among consumers.

"We found that ambient noise is an important antecedent for creative cognition," Mehta said. "A moderate level of noise not only enhances creative problem-solving but also leads to a greater adoption of innovative products in certain settings."

In the article, Methta and co-authors Rui (Juliet) Zhu, of the University of British Columbia, and Amar Cheema, of the University of Virginia, explore how a moderate-level of ambient noise (about 70 decibels, equivalent to a passenger car traveling on a highway) enhances performance on creative tasks and increases the likelihood of consumers purchasing innovative products. Similarly, the researchers also studied how a high level of noise (85 decibels, equivalent to traffic noise on a major road) hurts creativity by reducing information processing.

"What we found is that there's an inverted-U relationship between noise level and creativity," Mehta said. "It turns out that around 70 decibels is the sweet spot. If you go beyond that, it's too loud, and the noise starts to negatively affect creativity. It's the Goldilocks principle  the middle is just right."

Using background noise commonly found in consumers' lives, the researchers show that, as noise increases, so does one's level of distraction.

"An increased level of distraction makes you think 'out-of-the-box'  what we call abstract thinking or abstract processing, which is a hallmark of increased creativity," Mehta said. "But when you start to go beyond that moderate level of noise what happens is that distraction becomes so huge that it really starts affecting the thought process. You really can't process information because the distraction is so pronounced. And that is what inhibits creativity.

"So a moderate level of noise produces just enough distraction to lead to higher creativity, but a very high level of noise induces too much distraction, which actually reduces the amount of processing, thus leading to lower creativity."

The research, which has important practical implications for inducing consumer behavior, should be useful for both advertisers and marketers, who typically strive to increase adoption rates of new and innovative products.

"We studied this in a consumer environment because previous research has only considered white noise or pink noise"  a variant of white noise, which sounds like the static buzz of an off-air TV station  "which you don't really find in consumer environments," Mehta said. "So in this case we used everyday multi-talker noise to find out how it affects consumer behavior in a consumption environment. In order to encourage adoption of new and innovative products, marketers might consider equipping their showrooms with a moderate level of ambient noise."

Mehta says the research is not only applicable to consumer research, but also to problem-solving in general.

"This is research that people can relate to almost immediately," he said. "I'm working in a coffee shop  how does the noise in the background volume of the music affect my performance?

It's also valuable for individuals looking for creative solutions to everyday problems, such as planning a dinner menu based on limited supplies or generating interesting research topics to study.

"Our findings imply that instead of burying oneself in a quiet room trying to figure out a solution, walking outside of one's comfort zone and getting into a relatively noisy environment like a cafe may actually trigger the brain to think abstractly, and thus generate creative ideas," Mehta said.

Related Stories

(Medical Xpress) -- A new study presented at the 162nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America shows that students testing scores are negatively affected by background noise, but not the noise you would expect. The ba ...

Recommended for you

Why does time seem to crawl if you're waiting in line at the post office, but hours can fly by in minutes when you're doing something fun? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research examines the factors that determine how co ...

Why do some consumers make choices based on their feelings instead of rational assessments? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, consumers who consider themselves independent are more inclined to rel ...

Why is it so hard for consumers to save money? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, consumers are often impatient and do not think about the long-term consequences of spending money. ...

How do consumers react to products with diverse online reviews? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, a mix of positive and negative reviews can benefit products that are evaluated based on person ...

If you're traveling at 60 miles per hour, just a few milliseconds can mean the difference between life and death when you need to come to a quick stop. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, driver ...

User comments : 2

I can imagine a Natural History Museum diorama with a full-size replica of Ravi Mehta far in the future. A plaque on the side of the exhibit would read, "Consumer Marketing Professor, who used sonic tools to hunt his prey." Enlarge his photo- you'll see what I mean.